DanOnRoute66
I now live in Des Moines
A couple of months ago I "downgraded" (as many associates contend) by getting rid of the latest Windows-based computer in favor of a Macintosh Power Mac G5 Quad that's several years old. I have used it many hours a day, seven days a week, without a single issue. Every Windows machine I've ever owned has required at least several re-starts a day.
zuiko85
Veteran
One word; redundancy
That is how you build interplanetary spacecraft today. Reduce the number of single point failures to as few as possible.
That is how you build interplanetary spacecraft today. Reduce the number of single point failures to as few as possible.
anerjee
Well-known
Will the 18 MP camera last another 10/15 years with regular $300 CLAs?
rxmd
May contain traces of nut
This used to happen to mechanical devices, too, until development stalled.
FrozenInTime
Well-known
I'm sure Voyager is not RoHS compliant.
Lead free solder is designed in all consumer electronics these days despite problems such as high temperature delamination, brittle joints and tin whiskers. The military, aviation and medical industries are exempt - I wonder why
Lead free solder is designed in all consumer electronics these days despite problems such as high temperature delamination, brittle joints and tin whiskers. The military, aviation and medical industries are exempt - I wonder why
batterytypehah!
Lord of the Dings
Dunno Nick, I think there are two ways to think about this. I tend to think what a waste it is that this lovely lens is forever aimed at a 2 MP chip rather than a piece of film you could scan with state-of-the-art equipment.
rxmd
May contain traces of nut
Last time this happened to me several times a day was when I was trying to write a device driver.
In other news, the high-end technology of the day before yesterday is sometimes better than the low end of yesterday.
The trade-off comes with things like software obsolescence and the power bill, as my hardware-collecting friends tend to find out rather quickly.
batterytypehah!
Lord of the Dings
I'm sure Voyager is not RoHS compliant.
Lead free solder is designed in all consumer electronics these days despite problems such as high temperature delamination, brittle joints and tin whiskers. The military, aviation and medical industries are exempt - I wonder why
Excellent point, too.
At any rate, there's nothing wrong with electronics, but anything I buy today I buy with the expectation that it is inherently subject to unrepairable failure, even before it becomes technologically obsolete.
rxmd
May contain traces of nut
I'm sure Voyager is not RoHS compliant.
Lead free solder is designed in all consumer electronics these days despite problems such as high temperature delamination, brittle joints and tin whiskers. The military, aviation and medical industries are exempt - I wonder why
The reasons why they were exempt were (a) to avoid having to get everything recertified all at once, and (b) because those devices tend to be in use for a long time and the medium-to-long-term behaviour of RoHS-compliant solder joints wasn't known and everybody was scared of the things you mentioned when it RoHS was drafted a decade ago.
The military was exempt because there is a lot of extremely old (i.e. 1950s-era) legacy stuff in use in the military and it would be unrealistic to change all that.
The medical industry will no longer be exempt as of 2013, instead manufacturers have to apply for 18-month exemptions themselves. This reflects the "solved problem" state of many of the issues of ten years ago.
Livesteamer
Well-known
Wasn't Voyager nuclear powered? Maybe that would work for the M10.
Joe
Joe
Rob-F
Likes Leicas
Yup, my Marantz 7C preamp and 8b power amp are still working fine after 45+ years.
FrankS
Registered User
Mere anecdotal evidence, Roger.
How many wheels still work properly?
How many wheels still work properly?
Soeren
Well-known
Dear Roger
Interesting post remembering the times when you talked battery dependency, dead meters and nonworking AE cameras
Just yesterday we had the Digicam run out of batteries and I havn't come around to replace either of the two chargers that died during this month the last one less than a week ago.
Though I have accepted electronics and the need for sparebatteries for nearly all my cameras Im glad I still have a couple of the good old mechanical ones in my bags
Best regards
Interesting post remembering the times when you talked battery dependency, dead meters and nonworking AE cameras
Just yesterday we had the Digicam run out of batteries and I havn't come around to replace either of the two chargers that died during this month the last one less than a week ago.
Though I have accepted electronics and the need for sparebatteries for nearly all my cameras Im glad I still have a couple of the good old mechanical ones in my bags
Best regards
kshapero
South Florida Man
I gave up on Macs back in 96. I use a Windows 7 based PC everyday and it has never crashed once. AVG Internet Suite running in the background has helped. And my Nikon FE has never needed a repair. Lets see the last time I changed batteries? Maybe 5 years ago. OK but that paper plane I sent off to space back in 78 has never sent me any signals back.
f6andBthere
Well-known
The life of electronics really depends on environment IMO. I lived in a small cottage next to a creek many moons ago ... there wasn't a lot of sun getting through the trees so it was dark, cool and often damp. Everything electronic seemed to have a limited life ... usually only a few years! Video player, TV, cordless phone ... nothing lasted!
ray*j*gun
Veteran
How many of us have battery operated wrist watches sitting in the drawer when a wind up would be on our wrists. Its just that some things are better if the battery isn't the last line of operation.
Perhaps. A good photo is a good photo.
sanmich
Veteran
I don't think comparing aerospace electronics to consumer grade ones are a fair game.
I am sure a NASA M9 would be very reliable.
and yet, the "regular" M9 still has (I bet) more reasons to stop functioning than a Nikon F.
I am sure a NASA M9 would be very reliable.
and yet, the "regular" M9 still has (I bet) more reasons to stop functioning than a Nikon F.
NLewis
Established
Lead-free solder is a concern for all electronics today. There's a reason why the lead was in there. A lot of the stuff made in the last five years or so might start to die after ten years due to disintegration of the solder joints. Of course the electronics makers are quite happy with that.
Also, there may be issues with the resistors, capacitors etc. which can die. One of the reason electronics are so cheap today is that the parts are cheap. This is probably more of an issue with your $35 DVD player than a D700, but a lot of electronics today are not built to last.
Also, there may be issues with the resistors, capacitors etc. which can die. One of the reason electronics are so cheap today is that the parts are cheap. This is probably more of an issue with your $35 DVD player than a D700, but a lot of electronics today are not built to last.
sevo
Fokutorendaburando
One real difference is that somebody with the right skills and a few thousands worth of tools can rebuild just about every part of a mechanical camera - given a vise, a small lathe, a drill press, polishing machine and a set of screwdrivers, files, saws and pliers, and arbitrary amounts of time, I could rebuild a Leica M3 from scratch (i.e. bare blocks of metal and glass). It might cost me fifty times as much as buying one used, but it is essentially possible.
Electronic devices on the other hand tend to be irreproducible (and unrepairable) the very moment the last components have vanished from the surplus market, as it is plain impossible to re-build a IC or sensor chip at artisan level. As the whole tool chain has moved on, not even a industrial scale recreation of a past IC is possible without turning back time on a bigger scale, as the tool industry would have to get back to building lower resolution steppers, now prohibited chemicals would have to be legalized and reintroduced etc. etc.
Electronic devices on the other hand tend to be irreproducible (and unrepairable) the very moment the last components have vanished from the surplus market, as it is plain impossible to re-build a IC or sensor chip at artisan level. As the whole tool chain has moved on, not even a industrial scale recreation of a past IC is possible without turning back time on a bigger scale, as the tool industry would have to get back to building lower resolution steppers, now prohibited chemicals would have to be legalized and reintroduced etc. etc.